Protesters near the Jharkhand Bhawan building in New Delhi on April 15 display placards and shout anti-government slogans after a Hindu mob lynched a Catholic in Jharkhand in a case of cow vigilantism. (Photo by Bijay Kumar Minj/ucanews.com)

Five days after a mob
of Hindus beat to death a Catholic man for suspected cow slaughter in India’s
Jharkhand state, Christian and Muslim activists joined in New Delhi to protest
about violence against minorities.

A mob attacked Prakash
Lakra and three others on April 10 after suspecting them of slaughtering a cow
in Jhurmu village in the eastern state’s Gumla district. Lakra died from
his injuries hours after the attack, church sources said.

About 100 protesters
gathered in front of the Jharkhand Bhawan building in New Delhi on April 15 to
shout slogans against the state government run by the pro-Hindu Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP).

“Such violence is
nothing but a strategy to terrorize minorities and polarize the country in the
name of religion for votes,” said Christian leader A.C. Michael, a protest
organizer.

Speakers said violence
in the name of protecting cows, which are revered animals in Hinduism, has
increased ever since the BJP came to power in New Delhi.

Hindu groups stepped
up violence against Christians and Muslims because they considered the BJP
victory a mandate for them to push for their goal of establishing a Hindu-only
nation, activists said.

“We had never heard of
people killing in the name of religion in our area. We tribals here respect
each other irrespective of our faith. It is very unfortunate and shocking,”
said Father Cyprian Kullu, vicar general of Gumla Diocese in
Jharkhand.

He told ucanews.com
that Lakra and his friends did not slaughter a cow. An aged ox slipped in a pit
and died and villagers decided to take its skin to be used.

But some people from
neighboring Jairagi village who were passing through Lakra’s village saw the
incident and reported it back in their Hindu village as cow slaughter, the
priest said.

“A group of people
came back by evening and began beating the four involved. They also took them
to a nearby police station, where Lakra’s condition deteriorated. He was rushed
to a nearby hospital but was declared dead,” Father Kullu said.

The diocese suspects
some people with vested interests instigated the murder and is calling for a
thorough investigation, the priest said.

Senior police official
M.L. Meena told media on April 13 that the attackers were armed with iron bars
and sticks and attacked the victims brutally.

Two men have been
arrested for alleged murder and five more are on the run, Meena said.

“So far the
investigation has shown the ox died naturally. We are doing a thorough probe,”
he said.

Cow slaughter and the
consumption of beef are illegal in Jharkhand and 19 other states in India but
the restricted slaughter of other bovines like water buffalo is
allowed. Violators face up to 10 years in jail and or a fine of 10,000
rupees (US$150) in Jharkhand.

In 2017, the BJP
government tried to ban cattle slaughter for trade nationwide, but the plan was
rejected by the Supreme Court.

Cow vigilantism gained widespread attention when
Mohammad Akhlaq, a Muslim farmer from Dadri in Uttar Pradesh, was lynched for
allegedly possessing beef in his house in September 2015. However, laboratory
tests proved the meat was not beef.

At least 139 people
were also injured in these attacks. More than half of the attacks were based on
rumors, it said.

“It is a matter of
concern that this happened in a remote tribal village … because it is a new
thing there and it proves that fanatics have landed even in the remote villages
of the country,” said Mukti Prakash Tirkey, editor of a weekly newspaper on
tribal affairs published from New Delhi.

Mohamed Asim, a
student who joined the New Delhi protest, said that “the present government
treats Muslims, Christians, Dalits and tribal people as second-class citizens.
Hence their supporters do not hesitate to attack them at any time.”